GGRAsia – Bloomberry appeals US$296mln award to GGAM: filing

Bloomberry appeals US$296mln award to GGAM: filing

Nov 15, 2019 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck

Philippines-based casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp says it has appealed against an arbitration tribunal decision in Singapore ordering the Bloomberry group to pay US$296 million to Global Gaming Philippines LLC, a unit of U.S.-based Global Gaming Asset Management LLC (GGAM).

The payment ordered by the arbitration tribunal related to the termination of a management services agreement that had existed between on the one hand Bloomberry subsidiaries Sureste Properties Inc and Bloomberry Resorts & Hotels Inc, and on the other hand the unit of GGAM. The latter company in turn has links to former casino executive William Weidner.

“On November 5, 2019, Bloomberry Resorts & Hotels and Sureste filed in the Singapore High Court an application to set aside the final award on the grounds of fraud and fraudulent concealment among others. This case is pending in Singapore,” the parent company said in a Thursday third-quarter earnings filing to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The parties had struck a casino management services contract in 2011 that included veteran industry figure Mr Weidner and some associates. The deal related to Solaire Resort and Casino (pictured), a property that opened in the Philippine capital Manila in March 2013.

According to the Bloomberry group’s 2015 annual report, its subsidiaries terminated in September 2013 the agreement with Global Gaming Philippines, alleging “material breach” and “failure of discussions”. Global Gaming Philippines claimed the agreement had been wrongfully terminated.

According to a 2016 decision by the same Singapore-based arbitration tribunal, Bloomberry Resorts was “not justified” in terminating the casino management services with Global Gaming Philippines.

In Thursday’s filing, Bloomberry Resorts noted that, according to its legal advisors, the decision of the arbitration tribunal “may be enforced in the Philippines only through an order of a Philippine court of proper jurisdiction, after appropriate proceedings taking into account applicable Philippine law and public policy.”

The casino operator reported consolidated third-quarter net profit of approximately PHP3.91 billion (US$77.2 million), up 245 percent in year-on-year terms, according to its latest filing.